


The Glove

by LoraBlak



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canonical Character Death, Coping, Gen, M/M, Morgana is the emotional support cat, Other Phantom Thieves mentioned - Freeform, Persona 5 Protagonist Needs a Hug, Post-Persona 5: The Royal, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27862986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoraBlak/pseuds/LoraBlak
Summary: "Joker kept the glove. Of course, he did."Coping with a loss is hard, and Joker would rather fight the Reaper than talk about his feelings.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira & Morgana
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49





	The Glove

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story here >.> Have been lurking for a while, and decided it's about time to contribute! I hope ya'll like it)

Joker kept the glove. Of course, he did. While he would never admit to anyone, especially his team members gods forbid, Joker has fallen in love with his apparently fated rival - Goro Akechi. The same Goro Akechi who lied to media about liking sweets, played pool with his non-dominant hand just to prove he is better, murdered two of his teammates' parents, secretly obsessed over Featherman, planned Jokers own demise, loved being Drama Queen(see throwing said glove as a token promise of the rematch), then just died twice because of a gentle madman that is Joker's school counselor. So yes talking to the team, well to anyone really, was out of limits. Even though he was fairly certain Morgana had caught on and just hadn't said anything. Hard to keep anything from the cat when the said cat is always there. So yes, he silently kept the glove and the promise it symbolized. It is one of many tokens Joker got from all the bonds he collected in his year stay in Tokyo. Yet it's the only one he carries on himself at all times. First, it was in his pants pocket. After all, he couldn't put it in the bag which Morgana claimed as his, even back home(everyone in his old school was as scared to question him on it as they were in Tokyo, to his relief and disappointment). 

Then, as the Phantom thieves group chat simmered down after the initial month of separation the glove migrated onto his right hand. The day it happened was like any other. Another night filled with light brown hair and eyes the color of dried blood. Another night seeing that damned bulkhead door. Another night that was February Second until it wasn’t. The glove felt cool on Joker's hand, he knew that the warmth would be long gone but a part of him hoped it wouldn't. Yet it still brought the tornado in his chest that has been raging since February down to just a small storm. Joker pretended not to see the concerned look on Morgana’s face that day. Or for the rest of the week until Morgana just accepted that as the new norm. He truly treasured his companion, his care and acceptance meant a lot. He cared for all of his teammates for sure, but he also knew that with them it would be a lot of his own pep talks being thrown back at him confrontations, interventions, and talks about morals. Whereas Morgana's response was to make sure he maintained healthy sleep and food schedules, as well as purr therapy. It was never overbearing, maybe that's why Morgana is also coincidentally the only Phantom thief(sans Akechi that night, but he wasn't really part of the team) who has seen Joker cry. 

Morgana also has seen him obsessively wear his rival’s glove and develop certain habits around it. Like only touching people(and even a lot of things) with his left glove-free hand. Or the more embarrassing one - absentmindedly resting it where the fingers can play with his unruly hair while the rest of the palm touches the skin of his face. But no matter how embarrassing or inconvenient it became the action of wearing it was comforting and cathartic. It made sense when one thinks about it. Akechi in his entirety made such an impact on Joker’s existence, leaving a permanent mark on his mind. It’s only natural it would leave one on his body too. The black leather on his right hand was an outward manifestation of all the feelings he could not make himself otherwise express. It was his fondness, his pain, and his hope. 

All of that was fine until it wasn’t. The action was so habitual and normal by summer break that it didn’t cross his mind what it could tell his other teammates. It only dawned on him when Morgana explicitly asked if he was sure on the morning they were leaving for Tokyo for summer. That moment also confirmed for Joker that Morgana did, in fact, know all about it(in hindsight, he was there on the night in February after all). With the glove in the pocket, the tornado was in full swing, raging harder than ever to make up for the lost time. The weight of his glares now donned again, and Morgana’s purrs were the threads that grounded him in now. His mind at war between the anticipation of seeing his friends again, walking the places with so many memories of Akechi, and that small fluttering hope of maybe possibly fate bringing the two of them together again. Even so, he steels his resolve and builds up the mask of Joker again. He promises himself to have a good summer and to not worry his friends who fought to free up time from their life to hang out together. He’ll keep this promise just like he did the glove.

Even when the metaverse somehow comes back. Even when they have another deadline. Even when the moment he enters the metaverse his right-hand glove is black leather instead of red cloth. It’ll be ok, he’ll keep his promise. It’s not like the team sans Morgana noticed. Even if they would have, they wouldn’t know what it meant. And who are they to question their unshakable leader who walked nothing but the right path? They don’t quite know what happened on that night in February, only the bits Morgana fed them. (And his nagging thoughts kept putting his pseudo sister into it too, since she bugged Leblanc, even though that reality is no more and the window was small). Honestly, the only thing that’s clear is that he ought to take advantage of metaverse while he can - good sushi isn’t cheap and he owes a lot.

And if he spends free time roaming streets scanning them for familiar faces, or talks to Sae in hopes she knows something. That’s alright too. So is when he puts on the glove the moment he gets on the train back.


End file.
